Author Interviews, Dermatology, Geriatrics, Sleep Disorders / 07.08.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH Associate Professor Director of Clinical Research Director of Patch Testing George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington, DC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Atopic dermatitis affects people of all ages, including geriatric patients. Previous studies found age-related differences in the clinical manifestations of atopic dermatitis between children and adults. Though, few studies examined whether there are age-related differences of AD severity between geriatric and younger adults. We performed a cross-sectional real-world observational study and found that geriatric age (≥65 years) was not associated with atopic dermatitis severity. However, geriatric age was associated with increased sleep disturbances, delays falling asleep and nighttime awakenings from itch, as well as fatigue. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, NEJM / 20.07.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jane Fang, MD Clinical Athenex, Inc. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Tirbanibulin is a first-in-class synthetic molecule that has potent anti-proliferative activity by inhibiting tubulin polymerization and disrupting src kinase signaling. It has been formulated as an ointment for the treatment of actinic keratosis, a very common precancerous condition of UV-damaged skin that affects over 50 million people in the US. The most commonly adopted management approach is to remove AK lesions as it is hard to predict which lesion will become cancerous. Lesion-directed treatment like cryotherapy can effectively remove lesions one at a time but does not treat larger field of cancerization. Also, it is limited by associated pain and long term complication such as scarring. Currently approved topical treatments involve cumbersome application courses of weeks or months, and induce considerable local skin reactions that were not well tolerated by patients. The Phase 3 studies demonstrated that a short 5-day once daily course of tirbanibulin ointment 1% is an efficacious and safe topical treatment of actinic keratosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Melanoma / 02.06.2021

MedicalResearch.com interview with: Professor Marie-Aleth Richard EADV Communications Committee Chair Professor, University Hospital of La Timone Marseille, France MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this Roundtable event? Would you describe the mission of the European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan? Response: Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is the first, comprehensive EU strategy on cancer, aimed at tackling the disease through all key stages: prevention; early detection; diagnosis and treatment; and quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. The Plan also aims to create opportunities to improve cancer care through research and innovative projects, such as artificial intelligence, and to promote equal access to knowledge and treatments in cancer care across Europe. The EADV seeks to create a bridge between the EU health policy agenda and scientific research, by engaging with policymakers, patient organisations and other stakeholders to support a patient centric-approach; tackling melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) at all stages of the pathway, from prevention to follow-up care. Through our Roundtable event, the EADV brought together these key stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the EBCP on preventing both melanoma and NMSC, as well as identify joint recommendations that step-up measures towards this goal. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, PNAS / 01.06.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Haley Steele Graduate Student Researcher Georgia Institute of Technology  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Chronic itch is a debilitating symptom that arises from a broad range of etiologies including skin disease, systemic disease, and as a common side-effect of medication. While in the last few decades significant advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying chronic itch have been made, a large majority of those advancements were restricted to studies in hairy skin. Conditions such as plantar and palmar psoriasis, dyshidrosis, and cholestasis, however, are known to exhibit chronic itch restricted primarily to glabrous skin (found on the palms of hands and soles of feet). This is an area that is considered to be particularly debilitating. Therefore, in this study we investigated the role three previously identified pruriceptive neurons (MrgprA3+, MrgprD+, and MrgprC11+) play in mediating acute and chronic glabrous skin itch. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Heart Disease, JACC, NYU / 17.05.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael S. Garshick, MD Assistant Professor Department of Medicine Grossman School of Medicine NYU MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients with psoriasis have a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular disease when compared to patients without psoriasis, the mechanisms of which are still under investigation Dyslipidemia is also highly prevalent in psoriasis including elevation in a variety of lipoproteins causal in atherosclerosis. Lipoprotein(a) is an LDL like particle which is associated with atherosclerosis, atherothrombosis, and the development of clinical cardiovascular disease. Traditionally lipoprotein(a) is felt to be inherited rather than acquired, but some evidence suggest that lipoprotein(a) is elevated in those with underlying inflammatory conditions and associated with systemic inflammation including circulating IL-6. We therefore aimed to determine if lipoprotein(a) is elevated in psoriasis and associated with underlying systemic inflammatory profiles and biomarkers of cardiovascular risk.  (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Dermatology / 11.05.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Monisha Madhumita Father Muller Medical College India MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? hand-washing-eczema-dermatologyResponse: The COVID‐19 pandemic requires stringent adoption of hand hygiene practices. Health Care Workers (HCW) and the general population are at increased risk of irritation, dryness, redness and cracked hands (irritant dermatitis) due to frequent hand washing and the use of alcohol-based hand rubs. An effective hand sanitizer contains at least 60% alcohol to kill germs. Thus, it can be very drying to the skin. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) is a way to measure the water lost from the skin. It is an essential parameter for characterizing skin hydration and protective function. Both of which are disrupted in irritant hand dermatitis. This research study was conducted on 582 participants: 291 health care workers and 291 healthy individuals of the general population. Measurements of TEWL were made using a noninvasive, closed- chamber system (VapoMeter) in a standardized environment. The study participants were asked to identify the challenges to compliance in hand hygiene practice (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 09.05.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Niklas Worm Andersson, MD Department of Epidemiology Research Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen Denmark  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: "Findings from some previous fetal safety studies on topical corticosteroid use in pregnancy have raised concerns for an increased risk of newborns being small for gestational age or having low birth weight, in particular among pregnancies where larger amounts of potent to very potent agents have been used." (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Technology / 28.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yun Liu, PhD Google Health Palo Alto, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you describe the system?  Does it use dermatoscopic images? Response: Dermatologic conditions are extremely common and a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Due to limited access to dermatologists, patients often first seek help from non-specialists. However, non-specialists have been reported to have lower diagnostic accuracies compared to dermatologists, which may impact the quality of care. In this study, we built upon prior work published in Nature Medicine, where we developed a computer algorithm (a deep learning system, DLS) to interpret de-identified clinical images of skin conditions and associated medical history (such as whether the patient reported a history of psoriasis). These clinical images are taken using consumer-grade hardware such as point-and-shoot cameras and tablets, which we felt was a more accessible and widely-available device compared to dermatoscopes. Given such images of the skin condition as input, the DLS outputs a differential diagnosis, which is a rank-ordered list of potential matching skin conditions. In this paper, we worked with user experience researchers to create an artificial intelligence (AI) tool based on this DLS. The tool was designed to provide clinicians with additional information per skin condition prediction, such as textual descriptions, similar-appearing conditions, and the typical clinical workup for the condition. We then conducted a randomized study where 40 clinicians (20 primary care physicians, 20 nurse practitioners) reviewed over 1,000 cases -- with half the cases with the AI-based assistive tool, and half the cases without. For each case, the reference diagnosis was based on a panel of 3 dermatologists.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, NEJM / 28.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Kristian Reich, MD, PhD Professor for Translational Research in Inflammatory Skin Diseases Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Complete skin clearance is an important treatment goal for patients with psoriasis and is closely associated with treatment satisfaction and improved quality of life. However, it remains an unmet need for many patients. The interleukin (IL)-17 isoforms IL-17A and IL-17F play central roles in psoriasis pathophysiology and are overexpressed in psoriatic tissues. Existing biologic therapies, such as secukinumab, inhibit IL-17A only. However, increasing evidence indicates that IL-17F contributes independently to the pathobiology of plaque psoriasis, and that blocking both IL-17A and IL-17F may lead to more complete suppression of inflammation and superior clinical outcomes, compared with blocking IL‑17A alone. Bimekizumab is a humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that has been designed to selectively inhibit IL-17F in addition to IL-17A. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology / 05.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., Ph.D. Professor (tenured) of Neurology, Anesthesiology and Neurobiology
Attending Physician, Duke Neurology Clinics for Headache, Head-Pain and Trigeminal Sensory Disorders
Attending Physician, Duke Clinics for Innovative Pain Therapy at Brier Creek (Dept of Anesthesiology)
Duke University School of Medicine, Center for Translational Neuroscience
Durham NC 27710 Since April 2021 Chair of Neurology Global Development Scientific Council Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Tarrytown NY 10591 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There are systemic diseases that are characterized by intense itching, yet without inflammation of the skin and not associated with allergic inflammation. For example and importantly, liver disease with non-functional secretion of bile (cholestatic liver disease, most common primary biliary cholangitis, an autoimmune disease), but also chronic end-stage renal disease (also certain lymphomas and pruritic psoriasis where the itch is whole-body, not only restricted to diseased skin). We thought that these diseases might be great starting points to better understand itch because there is no inflamed skin and no allergies. Thus, there must be some systemic factor that causes itch, and we were intent on discovering such factors, and with them, molecular mechanisms how they cause itch. For cholestatic liver disease, one of the best candidates to fit this profile has been lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), since the pioneering discoveries of Andreas Kremer, one of our co-authors. My research laboratory at Duke has been rooted in my discovery of TRPV4 ion channels 20 years ago, out of the Friedman Lab at The Rockefeller University in NYC. Over the years, with my colleague Yong Chen out of my lab, now leading his own independent research operation, we focused on the role of TRPV4 ion channels in skin. 5 years ago Yong and I published a paper that provided some evidence for TRPV4 in skin perhaps playing a role in itch. Working with phospholipids, we made the serendipitous discovery that lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC) is a more potent itch-inducing lipid molecule than LPA. Of note, LPC is the metabolic precursor of LPA. We then found that LPA does not depend on TRPV4 to elicit itch. The more robust itch evoked by LPC was significantly reduced when we knocked down TRPV4 in skin keratinocytes. Itch was NOT affected when TRPV4 was deleted from sensory nerve cells that innervate the skin. In terms of background, my long-term goal has been to elucidate how innervating peripheral nerve cell and innervated organ, such as skin, talk to one another so that the sensation that is felt is regulated or modulated, e.g how can skin influence itch or pain, how can joint cells influence pain. That became the exciting bedrock of our study, and we took it from there, 5 years of hard work with collaborations spanning the globe, and a final stretch of exhausting work during the pandemic. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Dermatology, Lancet / 17.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matt Spick, Post-Graduate Researcher University of Surrey Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences Guildford, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Are you measuring lipids or the virus? Response: In this study, we aimed to detect what the virus does to us, rather than the virus itself. The gold standard for detecting COVID-19 is the RT-PCR test, but by their nature, PCR tests only provide diagnostic information, and at times during the pandemic the availability of PCR tests has been a bottleneck for the identification of the disease. Our goal was to investigate a novel method for the diagnosis of COVID-19, at the same time as learning more about what the disease does to us through lipidomics. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Melanoma / 17.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anne Cust | PhD, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology The University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health Sydney School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Are the screeners specially trained, use full body photographs, dermoscopy etc? Response: The Melanoma High-risk Clinic Study was developed to optimise the early detection of new melanomas in people at high risk of developing melanoma. A previous single-centre study observed fewer excisions and healthcare costs, thinner melanomas and better quality of life when surveillance of high risk patients was conducted in a melanoma dermatology clinic with a structured surveillance protocol involving 6-monthly full body examinations aided by total body photography (TBP) and sequential digital dermoscopy imaging (SDDI). The initial pilot study was performed in a single tertiary referral specialist centre using trained dermatologists who routinely used the diagnostic interventions. Our objective was to examine longer-term sustainability and expansion of the program to multiple practices including a primary care skin cancer clinic setting. The hypothesis was that the outcomes would be similar if using the same protocol and diagnostic tools. The participating doctors were trained to follow the protocol, which included instruction on how to respond and interpret changing lesions, but not in use of dermoscopy or skin examinations, which were routinely and consistently used in all clinics prior to the study commencing. There were 593 participants assessed as very high risk of melanoma who participated in the Melanoma High-risk Clinic Study from 2012-2018. Nearly all of the participants had had a previous melanoma and had additional melanoma risk factors. 57% were male and the median age at study entry was 58 years. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Dermatology, JAMA / 11.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PHD, MPH Associate Professor Director of Clinical Research Director of Patch Testing George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington, DC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The COVID pandemic hit the Orthodox Jewish community in the United States particularly hard, especially in the early days when much was unknown. At that time of great loss, Jewish communities around the United States rallied to help the millions of other people impacted by the pandemic. A partnership was established of local community organizations across 5 states with premier academic universities across the United States and Canada. Over a 10 day period in May 2020, more than 6500 people came out to participate in the The Multi-Institutional Study Analyzing anti-CoV-2 Antibodies (MITZVA) cohort. Participants completed surveys and donated blood in order to become potential convalescent plasma donors and help learn more about the science of COVID. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Dermatology, Gender Differences, JAMA, Medicare, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 18.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lauren A. V. Orenstein, MD | She/her/hers Assistant Professor of Dermatology Robert A. Swerlick, MD Professor and Alicia Leizman Stonecipher Chair of Dermatology Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, GA 30322 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Financial incentives have the potential to drive provider behavior, even unintentionally. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in clinic “productivity” measures that occur in outpatient dermatology encounters. Specifically, we used data from 2016-2020 at one academic dermatology practice to evaluate differences in work relative value units (wRVUs, a measure of clinical productivity) and financial reimbursement by patient race, sex, and age. 66,463 encounters were included in this study, among which 70.1% of encounters were for white patients, 59.6% were for females, and the mean age was 55.9 years old. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 11.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jill Sommerville M.Sc Director of Medical at WaterWipes MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How prevalent is diaper dermatitis? Is it more severe in some babies? Response: The Utah study is an independent clinical study conducted by the University of Utah Hospital NICU, Salt Lake City and recently published in Advances in Neonatal Care journal. It was a year-long study conducted between January 2018 – March 2019. The NICU staff were interested in exploring a new Perineal Skin Care Guideline in their unit, encompassing use of WaterWipes, to decrease the incidence of diaper dermatitis. Their stated aim was to reduce diaper dermatitis by 20% within a 1-year period.  The study involved 1,070 premature babies, 11% of which were born at less than 30 weeks of gestational age. The inclusion criteria for the study were all babies who stayed for more than 1 day in the NICU. Diaper dermatitis is known to cause discomfort and emotional distress in all babies and can be a possible source of infection among NICU babies.  Diaper dermatitis remains prevalent, especially in preterm babies. The reported incidence varies from 21% to 25% among newborn intensive care babies. 1 Diaper dermatitis in pre term babies can be multifactorial especially as babies born early have a less well developed stratum corneum, the outer most layer of skin. NICU babies are often exposed to antibiotics and fortified milk to help them catch up growth. Other medical complications in addition can lead to altered gut flora and altered stool composition resulting in more frequency of stool. The presence of urine and frequent stools necessitates regular cleaning which can result in excessive rubbing of the skin or the use of wipes containing harsh ingredients that can damage the skin. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, NEJM / 11.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jane Fang, MD Clinical Athenex, Inc.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by actinic keratoses? How common are they and who is primarily affected? Response: Actinic keratosis is a very common precancerous skin condition that affects about 58 millions people in the US. Most commonly affected people are older (over 40 years old) men with fair skin type. Actinic keratosis lesions are red scaly bumps on sun-damaged skin mostly on the face, scalp, back of hands, forearms and legs. As there is a risk of 0.025-16% per year for each actinic keratosis to progress to skin cancer and it is not possible to predict which actinic keratosis will become cancerous, early treatment of actinic keratosis is generally recommended. Currently approved topical treatments require weeks or months of application and may lead to intolerable side effects that undermine compliance and reduce efficacy of treatment. Tirbanibulin ointment is a novel anti-proliferative agent that inhibits tubulin polymerization and disrupts Src kinase signaling, and has the potential to inhibit growth of abnormal skin cells in actinic keratosis. The current report described two Phase 3 randomized vehicle or placebo-controlled clinical studies that demonstrated that a 5-day course of tirbanibulin ointment applied once daily by patients was safe, well-tolerated, and effective in clearing actinic keratosis on the face or scalp compared to vehicle control. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology / 15.01.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian Kim, MD Associate Professor of Dermatology Co-Director, Center for the Study of Itch & Sensory Disorders John T. Milliken Department of Internal Medicine Washington University in St. Louis MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients with eczema suffer from chronic itch due to the rashes they have on their body. However, as a physician, I have always noticed that patients with eczema will have sudden flares of their itching all over there body that is often triggered by what appear to be allergens – being around a cat, pollen, mold in a house, etc. Eczema is in the family of allergic diseases such as food allergy, asthma, and hay fever. All of these conditions are noted for patients being reactive to allergens by way of an antibody called IgE that coats a cell called the mast cell. Upon IgE binding an allergen, mast cells produce tons of histamine which can cause symptoms like itching. So we speculated that perhaps because patients with eczema have such misbehaving IgE, that exposure to allergen is what triggers this kind of severe itch flare that we see in patients. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Dermatology / 14.01.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karan Lal, DO, Marketing Committee Member for the Society for Pediatric Dermatology, Dermatologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center. Dr. Lal discusses the recent study of a procedure to remove black dye from henna tattoos. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Para‐phenylenediamine, a dye frequently added to henna tattoos to create the black color, is a potent contact allergen. Severe contact dermatitis may arise within days even after the first application. Our objective was to develop a method for rapid and complete removal of para‐phenylenediamine‐containing black henna tattoos from the skin, an important problem many physicians are confronted with, but for which no simple method exists.  (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Dermatology / 06.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PHD, MPH Associate Professor Director of Clinical Research Director of Patch Testing George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Washington, DC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study Response: Chronic hand eczema was previously shown to be associated with higher rates of allergic contact dermatitis. Yet, little is known about recent trends in North America with respect to the clinical presentation and allergen profile in chronic hand eczema. This study sought to determine the clinical characteristics and etiologies of hand eczema in a large North American cohort of adults referred for patch testing. The patients in the study were patch tested using the North American Contact Dermatitis Group’s allergen screening series. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks / 04.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeremy M. Gernand, PhD, CSP, CRE Associate Professor Environmental Health and Safety Engineering Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Given concern in the public about exposure to nanoparticles in cosmetics, we decided to investigate the exposure potential for inhaling nanoparticles during the application of aerosol mineral-based sunscreens that are typically marketed as safer for children. We choose three commercially available sunscreens to test in the lab in a manner intended to capture the amount of inhaled particles that would typically occur during application of sunscreen to the mid-point of one’s own arm.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Genetic Research / 20.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jillian F. Rork, MD Assistant Professor of Dermatology Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center at Manchester and The Geisel School of Medicine Society for Pediatric Dermatology Member MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain the genetic condition of Down syndrome? Response:  Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal abnormality, occurring in approximately 1 in 700 newborns in the United States.  Trisomy of chromosome 21 can result in multisystem involvement such as hearing loss, heart defects, autoimmune conditions and dementia. This study focuses on how trisomy 21 affects one of the body’s largest organs, the skin. Current literature addressing dermatologic conditions associated with Down syndrome is limited. There is often emphasis on rare skin conditions such as elastosis perforans serpiginosa, milia-like idiopathic calcinosis cutis, and eruptive syringomas. There is lack of consensus on incidence of more common disorders. We performed a retrospective chart review of 101 patients with Down syndrome in our dermatology practice at the University of Massachusetts to better describe associated skin conditions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Genetic Research, Melanoma / 19.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah I. Estrada, M.D., FCAP  Laboratory Director Affiliated Dermatology® www.affderm.com MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As a dermatopathologist who makes diagnoses on lesions that may be melanoma, I’m faced with the reality that my accurate interpretation of biopsy tissue is key for the patient to be treated most effectively. Often histopathological evaluation is straightforward but not as often as I would like. The study presented here offers a new test that can be used in conjunction with my evaluation to determine if a questionable lesion is in fact melanoma. The test was developed to take into account the gene expression of the lesion which may factor in characteristics that I cannot visually observe. The test was validated and has shown very promising accuracy metrics. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Dermatology / 17.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yashu Dhamija MD Dr. Thomas Schmidlin, MD Cleveland Clinic Akron General  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We are seeing an increased use of face masks in the COVID-19 pandemic and while that is encouraged and necessary to limit the spread of disease in the general publication, it can mean challenges for some individuals. Patients with known sensitizations to allergens contained in face masks may experience rash or irritation with commonly used face coverings. It is also possible for patients without a history of contact dermatitis to become sensitized to allergens after wearing facial coverings more regularly, thus leading to new cases of contact dermatitis (CD) in individuals with no known prior history of contact dermatitis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Dermatology, JAMA, McGill, Mental Health Research / 17.11.2020

Editor's note: This piece discusses suicide. If you have experienced suicidal thoughts or have lost someone to suicide and want to seek help, you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting "START" to 741-741 or call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.  MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David-Dan Nguyen, MPH Research Fellow | Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital Medical Student | McGill University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There is ongoing concern about the side-effects of finasteride, a drug used for the management of alopecia and benign prostatic hyperplasia. These concerns have led to the coining of the “post-finasteride syndrome” which remains controversial. Indeed, there is conflicting evidence on the post-finasteride syndrome/adverse events associated with finasteride. We wanted to contribute to this conflicting body of evidence by examining suicidality, depression, and anxiety reports linked to finasteride use using the WHO’s pharmacovigilance database, VigiBase. Such pharmacovigilance databases are useful for the study of rare adverse events that are suspected to be associated with medication use. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, JAMA / 30.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Selin Tokez, PhD Student Department of Dermatology Erasmus MC, Rotterdam MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin cancer worldwide with still increasing incidence rates. Given these high incidence rates together with the associated health costs and possibility of fatal progression, it is extremely important to have accurate and complete data on the epidemiology of this disease. Nevertheless, national cancer registries in many countries do not routinely record cSCC cases and therefore currently known numbers are mainly based on incomplete data sources. Additionally, if cSCC cases are registered, this usually only concerns the first cSCC per patient while we know that, contrary to many other malignant neoplasms, patients may develop numerous cSCCs over time. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response:  In the present study, we analyzed Dutch nationwide data comprising about 145,000 patients with a first invasive cSCC diagnosis between the years 1989 and 2017. We found that the incidence rates of a first cSCC per patient almost tripled in male patients and increased about fivefold in female patients in this 30-year time period. Also, we had data on all cSCCs per patient for the year 2017 and could therefore compare this with the data on only the first cSCC per patient: incidence rates increased by 58% for men and 35% for women when multiple cSCCs were considered. In absolute numbers, this resulted in an increase of 45% in cSCC diagnoses in 2017. Lastly, we extended our analyses by predicting future cSCC incidence rates up to 2027. Given that no substantially effective measures are undertaken in the near future, current cSCC incidence rates will increase with 23% in males and 29% in females in the next decade. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Inflammation / 30.10.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Douglas Maslin, MPhil, MB BCHir Dermatologist and Pharmacologist Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge, UK   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I’d like to answer this question in three parts: EVELO BIOSCIENCESFirstly, the background to Evelo and the therapeutic EDP1815: Evelo is developing orally administered biologic medicines based on a new understanding of how systemic inflammation is controlled. Evelo’s medicines are selected for their ability to modulate the small intestinal axis, or SINTAX, a network of anatomical and functional connections that has evolved to connect the small intestine with the rest of the body. SINTAX links small intestinal mucosal immunology with systemic inflammation and is now accessible with oral medicines. This inflammatory control pathway may enable a new class of products which are effective, safe, and can be manufactured affordably at large scale. EDP1815 is a non-live pharmaceutical preparation of a strain of the bacterium Prevotella histicola isolated from the duodenum of a human donor. Its pharmacodynamic effect is through interactions with the immune cells within the small intestine and it has no systemic absorption. These local interactions in the small intestine then downregulate systemic inflammation. In fact, the inflammatory control afforded by targeting the small intestinal axis appears to result in the coordinated downregulation of multiple inflammatory pathways without immunosuppression, mimicking the body’s normal physiological processes of inflammation resolution. Secondly, there is the key and exciting background pre-clinical data on EDP1815 – the details of which have been published today at the EADV conference. For example, oral administration of EDP1815 to mice has been shown to lead to striking therapeutic effects in in vivo models of delayed-type hypersensitivity, imiquimod-induced skin inflammation, fluorescein isothiocyanate cutaneous hypersensitivity, collagen-induced arthritis, and experimental acute encephalomyelitis (EAE). The consistency of effect and dose shows that EDP1815 can coordinately resolve systemic inflammation across TH1, TH2 and TH17 pathways. This suggests the potential for clinical benefit across multiple diseases. And, thirdly, there is the clinical unmet need for an oral, safe, effective treatment specifically for mild and moderate psoriasis patients, who have very limited treatment options outside of the poorly tolerated topical therapies, and these patients are reported to be dissatisfied with treatment options and therefore are often under-treated. These three points explain the background to EDP1815 and the reason for progressing forward into the phase 1b in psoriasis. (more…)